The Kimberley Nordic Club is ready for the ski season. Trails are groomed and track set, and in pretty good shape considering last week’s rain. Prior to that, skiers had been enjoying the early snow.
“We really only shut down for one day, when it was really raining hard,” said the Nordic Club’s Keith King. “Now it’s firmed up. We have a good base. The track’s been reset. For early season, it’s in really good shape.”
Nordic Club volunteers were busy over the summer, though the fire situation didn’t allow for as much time on the trails as wanted. But there are new trails to enjoy.
“As we all know, this summer’s forest fire season made it difficult to build any trails, but once the restrictions were lifted in the fall, we got to work and began a projection of trail expansion,” King said. “We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia and the Columbia Basin Trust. Without their contributions, these new trails could not have been built at this time.”
Changes you will note at the Nordic Club include:
• Finnegan’s Bluff is a low-impact trail built for single track traffic only, and about 1.8km long.
• Upper Landsem is about 2 km long, with 2 cut-offs within. It starts at the south end where Magic Line crosses Landsem, then reconnects onto Landsem trail just as it descends towards Iker’s Landing. It will have the new “highest point” on our trails, overlooking the Columbia Valley and Kimberley, and skirts the old-growth larch trees in the area.
• There is a new connector trail between K1 and Centennial Trail.
• A second connector is planned for an area between K2 and Centennial next spring, as well as a 1.2km section below Centennial Trail, hopefully connecting Lower Cardiac to the stadium area.
• The stadium has been widened and there is more useable length. The creek crossing has been widened, and this will allow for more teaching/coaching area. The increased stadium size will also allow for larger race formats, with plans to host future NorAm races.
Plans are in place for further trails and connectors, and a race timing/storage building. That work will be done next spring, as there wasn’t time to complete it this fall.
The Nordic Club is open to suggestions for names for the new trails, so let them know if you have any ideas.
And check out the website at kimberleynordic.org for up to date trail condition and snow reports and, new this year, a live webcam.